| Yogi's Ark Lark | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Written by | Bob Ogle Dick Robbins |
| Directed by | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Starring | Daws Butler Henry Corden Walker Edmiston Allan Melvin Don Messick John Stephenson Jean Vander Pyl Lennie Weinrib |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin (musical director) Paul DeKorte (musical supervision) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16) |
Yogi's Ark Lark is a 1972 American animated television special produced byHanna-Barbera Productions, intended to raiseecological awareness. Written byBob Ogle and Dick Robbins and directed byJoseph Barbera andWilliam Hanna, it was broadcast onABC on September 16, 1972 as part ofThe ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, and served as the two-part pilot forYogi's Gang.[1]
Aside from its environmental message, the film marked a milestone in Hanna-Barbera's history: a wide range of the studio’s characters were united in one story for the first time. This set the tone for future series and specials, such asLaff-A-Lympics andYogi's First Christmas.
Concerned about the terrible state of the environment, the entire animal kingdom from Hanna-Barbera gather for a meeting in Jellystone Park, chaired byYogi Bear. They decide to leave their homes and search for "the perfect place" — a legendary and trouble-free place free of pollution, deforestation, and other forms of mankind's despoilment and has a few simple problems. ThoughBoo-Boo Bear states to Yogi thatRanger Smith will not like it. Jellystonemaintenance man Noah Smitty helps them build a flying ship (which looks likeNoah's Ark with apropeller on top and retractable wheels) for their journey, and they decide to name it after him. Because "Smitty's Houseboat" is too long to paint on the bow, they name it "Noah's Ark." With Yogi at the helm, they travel to places around the world, searching for "the perfect place" as the ark is powered byMagilla Gorilla running on a treadmill to get to his bananas.
They start by driving down the highway into the ocean, where they soon end up on the back of a sleepingMoby Dick.Huckleberry Hound is sent down to wake him. They then end up stranded in theSahara Desert which they originally mistake for abeach. The desert sun causes Yogi to hallucinate and believe he is thepharaohKing Tut and his friends are his slaves until Boo-Boo and Noah Smitty arrive. Some moments later, So-So the monkey spots anoasis which is "the perfect place." As Yogi and crew settle down to make themselves at home,Lambsy spots a "dragon" which turns out to be a construction vehicle developing a new city. Yogi and the crew then take their leave of the area. Afterwards, they arrive inAntarctic territory, which they decide to live as a brand new "perfect place." They begin settling there until a similar situation happens like at the oasis. Next, Yogi and the crew wind up inouter space upon going up too far, which they decide is a new and improved "perfect place." It isn’t long before Earth ejects its "junk" (missiles, satellites, etc.) into space.
With the Ark back on earth and sailing the sea, morale has dropped among the animals: Huck throws water down a pipe which causesDum Dum to emerge and throw water at him,Quick Draw McGraw insultsSnagglepuss' slicing of salami,Peter Potamus insults Magilla Gorilla by telling him "he looks like a gorilla", andLippy the Lion grows tired of Hardy Har Har's complaining. Yogi Bear becomes aware of this just as So-So spots atyphoon coming. The animals struggle to survive the typhoon like Dum Dum roping Huck and Lippy saving Hardy. The typhoon lands them on top of a mountain, and the animals almost believe that they’ve found what they’ve been looking for....only to be disappointed again whenYakky Doodle returns with an empty tin can and the animals notice a deforestation occurring.
At this point, the younger animals (consisting ofAtom Ant,Augie Doggie,Baba Looey,Benny the Ball, Boo-Boo, Ding-a-Ling Wolf, Lambsy,Pixie and Dixie,Shag Rugg,Touché Turtle, and Yakky Doodle) decide that they should all simply go back home and clean up the messes that they were trying to escape. This decision is met with unanimous approval, and the animals all head for home so that they can start turning it into "the perfect place". During the credits,Wally Gator andSquiddly Diddly are cleaning the rivers,Paw and Shag Rugg are picking up garbage around their house, and Yogi Bear picks up a recently discarded hamburger wrapper.
The following Hanna-Barbera characters appeared in this movie (not all of whom appeared onYogi’s Gang) in alphabetical order:
Yogi's Ark Lark was released on theYogi's Gang: The Complete SeriesDVD from theWarner Archive Collection on February 19, 2013.
Yogi's Ark Lark was included as a bonus feature for theBlu-ray release ofYogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears from Warner Archive on February 20, 2024.[2]